Getting to the Source of PCBs: Fixing TSCA

Presented by Rick EichstaedtMarch 26, 2013

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

209 congeners Congeners differ in

Abundance Physical properties Biological effects

Aroclors are mixtures of congeners Attach to sediment particles Significant human health and

environmental effects

History of PCBs 1865 --- First PCB-like chemical discovered; a by-product of coal tar

(chimney sweeps). 1927 --- PCBs were first manufactured commercially by the Anniston

Ordnance Company, in Anniston, Alabama. 1936 - Scientists issued a report attributing workers’ disease

symptoms. 1937 --- A study published in the Journal of Industrial Hygiene and

Toxicology suggested links between PCBs and liver disease. 1947 --- GE began using PCBs in the manufacture of

electrical equipment. 1970 --- Annual U.S. production peaked with 85 million pounds of

PCBs produced. 1973 --- U.S. Food and Drug Administration establishes a tolerance

level of 5.0 parts per million (ppm) in fish. 1976 --- Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act. 1977 --- Monsanto stopped manufacturing PCBs in the U.S. 1979 --- EPA issued final regulations banning the manufacture of

PCBs.

PCBs are Nationwide Issue Between 1930 and 1970, approximately

30,000 tons were released to air, 60,000 tons to fresh and coastal waters, and 300,000 tons to dumps and landfills.

Waters and their sediments contaminated by PCBs have resulted in over 675 advisories restricting the consumption of PCB-contaminated fish, shellfish, and wildlife issued in 37 states and in one U.S. Territory (American Samoa).

5,578 waterbodies on 303(d) list for PCBs.

PCBs are Everywhere

Water Quality Criteria for PCBs Washington State

170 pg/l (parts per quadrillion) in water Translates to 5.3 ppb (parts per billion) for fish

tissue Spokane Tribe

3.37 pg/l in water Translates to 0.1 ppb for fish tissue

Reductions Needed In Spokane River to Meet Water Quality Standards

How do we address the problem?

Source control strategies generally fall into four different categories: Technology-based Strategies Local Regulatory Strategies Public and Business Outreach Regional, National, or International Strategies.

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 6(e)

Specific to PCBs: Controls the manufacturing, processing, distribution-in-commerce, use, marking and disposal of PCBs

Bans manufacturing and processing, unless exempted by rule: Exempted Manufacturing Processes (EMPs) Exempted PCB Products (EPPs)

Bans distribution, except for totally enclosed and authorized PCBs Distribution of intact, non-leaking electrical equipment is totally enclosed

Bans use/storage, unless authorized by rule: Use/storage authorized > 50 ppm for certain electrical equipment and

other uses (e.g., carbonless copy paper; research and development; natural gas pipelines; porous surfaces contaminated by spills; decontaminated materials)

Recycling paper and asphalt shingles Disposal – PCBs > 50 ppm and remediation (cleanup) wastes, options

include: TSCA-permitted incinerator; high-efficiency boilers (liquids < 500 ppm);

TSCA-permitted landfills (solids); permitted alternative destruction technologies; scrap metal recovery ovens (metals <500 ppm); decontamination; risk-based disposal

Regulatory Exemptions Manufacturing exemptions: Inadvertently

generated PCBs, annual average <25 ppm; 50 ppm max Notification to EPA if >2 ppm

Approximately 72 notices from 28 companies on file Use exemptions: No authorization is needed

to use excluded PCB products, products of an excluded manufacturing process, recycled PCBs, or sewage sludge

Processing and distribution in commerce allowed for: Excluded PCB products, recycled PCBs

Inadvertent Generation of PCBs

Combination of carbon, chlorine, and high temperatures can result in PCB generation.

Up to 200 chemical processes may create PCB byproducts.

Products inadvertently containing PCBs include paint, inks, ag chemicals, plastics, and detergent.

Source: EPA PCB TMDL Handbook.

2010 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Reassessment of PCB Use

Authorizations EPA solicited comments and data needed to

characterize/understand ongoing sources and releases of PCBs: Liquid PCBs in equipment and pipelines Elimination of most use authorizations at levels ≥ 50

ppm Non-liquid PCBs (including caulk) Porous surfaces with PCBs Definitional and marking issues Use of 50 ppm level for excluded products

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking projected to July 2014.

Comments on the ANPR 242 comments in docket; about 148 individual

commenters Major groups of commenters

Electrical utilities (industry) Natural gas transmitters and distributors (e.g., INGAA,

AGA) Parents and workers in New York City schools (caulk) Governments (DOE, Mass. DEP) Recycled paper producers (Inland Paper) Pigment Manufacturers (Color & Pigment Manufacturers

Ass’n) Metal/plastic recyclers (e.g., ISRI, MBA Polymers) Environmental groups (Riverkeeper, TLC)

Excluded Manufacturing Process/Products: Comments

Inland Empire Paper/Spokane Riverkeeper/The Lands Council Eliminate all federal exclusions or exceptions for inadvertently

formed PCBs as a byproduct or impurity in chemical manufacturing processes

Northwest Pulp and Paper Association (NWPPA) NWPPA supports lowering the allowable concentration of PCBs in

dyes, inks and pigments products as much as possible, using a phased approach, as the best mechanism for reducing PCB contamination in recycled furnish

Such action must be coordinated and connected federal and state actions involved in developing water quality criteria and implementation

American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) Carbonless copy paper manufactured in the U.S. no longer

contains PCBs; AF&PA encourages EPA to discontinue use authorization for PCBs in manufactured/imported carbonless copy paper

PCBs in azo and phthalocyanine pigments should be banned from U.S. commerce, including imported products and packaging

Excluded Manufacturing Process/Products: Comments

Washington State Department of Ecology Significant amounts of PCBs flow into Puget Sound; primary source is

runoff; “ . . . do not have estimate for which sources of PCBs are contributing most to loading”

Does not “recommend that the EPA authorize the use of caulk, paint, or other non-liquid PCB product at concentrations exceeding the level of 50 ppm currently provided . . . for excluded PCB products”

California Regional Water Quality Board “In development of this TMDL, we learned that PCBs releases from

uncontained spills and outdated products are the largest ongoing sources of PCBs in our waterways” (e.g., caulk, paint, other building materials)

Consider water quality impacts when reducing the exclusion concentration for PCBs

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservations (CTUIR) “CTUIR DNR supports the elimination of PCBs from all dyes, pigments

and inks” Overseas manufacturers send products to U.S. and U.S. companies

must clean up contamination to meet water quality standards

Excluded Manufacturing Process/Products: Comments

Color Pigment Manufacturers Association (CPMA) 1 ppm threshold would eliminate three important pigment groups from

commerce, affecting color printing as well as colors in paint and plastics Technology does not now exist to eliminate PCBs in all organic pigments

to a level below 1 ppm Would put U.S. pigment and product manufacturers at additional

competitive disadvantage versus pigment and product importers Representative Mike Simpson (Idaho) letter to EPA

EPA regulations inequitably allow overseas manufacturers to export PCB containing products into the U.S. with concentrations up to 50 ppm, while then subjecting our own businesses and communities to surface water quality standards that are nearly 8 million times more stringent

Manufacturing alternatives for similar dyes and pigments that do not contain PCBs are available “On behalf of the American people and the protection of our environment, I

request that your agency make the common-sense decision to revise all appropriate sections of the TSCA regulations that allow imported products to contain PCBs.”

Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) Resolution

ECOS: national non-profit, non-partisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders.

August 2012: passed a resolution addressed to the EPA that laid out several points about how to best address levels of PCBs in wastewater discharges to our nation's waterbodies: Called for EPA, industry, and states to work together on alternatives to

chlorinated solvents used in pigment and ink manufacturing to develop manufacturing processes in the next five years that do not generate PCBs.

Called for National approach to the problem of inadvertently created PCBs in inks and pigments.

Supported EPA's proposed rulemaking to reassess the current use authorizations for PCBs, which includes products with PCBs less than 50 ppm and inadvertently generated PCBs in products at less than 25 ppm. EPA should move forward with this rulemaking to better protect human health and the environment.

Recommended that EPA continue its efforts reduce PCBs and work with the international community on the elimination of PCBs.

Nonlegacy PCBs: Pigment Manufacturing By-Products Get a

Second Look March 1, 2013 article in Environmental Health

Perspectives. “The EPA’s Design for the Environment Program, which is

conducting alternative assessments on various chemical products, is not currently involved in any research on pigments. That the EPA initiate such research is one of the recommendations put forth in the ECOS resolution. As rulemaking continues for the EPA’s reassessment of current PCB regulations, an EPA spokeswoman provided no information on the status of the agency’s ongoing assessment of non-dioxinlike health effects of PCBs.”

We Need to Fix the Law: Standards Will Get More Stringent

EPA’s default fish consumption rates are 17.5 g/day for adults in the general population.

142.4 g/day for subsistence fishers. Oregon’s new standard: 175 g/day. EPA rejected Idaho’s use of 17.5 g/day. Spokane Tribe: 86.6 g/day now , proposed

865 g/day.